Harmony
by inktheory
Summary: Ozai cannot steal his brother's throne -- not yet. Instead he will have to to with stealing Iroh's best friend Ursa. The story of the two Fire Princes, the girl who changed their lives, and a twist of Pai Sho. -BYOT- bring your own tea everyone!
1. Turtle Ducks and Tea

One: Turtle ducks and Tea

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

**Disclaimer thingy: **I don't own AtLA, it owns me.

-Story title comes from everyone's favorite Avatar game, Pai Sho, in which the objective is to create harmony among the tiles one is playing with. If Iroh played it, it's got to be a good game.

-This is my first Avatar story. It's centers on Iroh, because he rocks the world; and Ozai, because he gets no love. Ursa is the name of Firelord Ozai's wife, in case you don't know. Please review! It makes me feel warm and ticklish inside

**One: Turtle ducks and Tea**

**Iroh (14), Ursa (12), Ozai (7)**

"Hogmonkeys…the tea got cold."

The fire prince cast the china cup in his hands a disappointed look. The plump boy had recieved the tea set as a present, and was eager to make most of it, spending all of his free times having tea breaks. As the heir to the throne, the free time was not so much, but Iroh had convinced himself that he didn't mind.

"Here, let me show you something," his companion said, taking the cup from his hands. "Watch me." She looked at Iroh and winked. Then she brought the cup to her lips and sniffed delicately, twice, before handing the cup back to him. "There you go." Utterly bemused, he reached for his jasmine tea.

"Thank y—ah!" Iroh dropped the cup, flailing his hands madly. "It's hot! What did you do that for, Ursa?" In his irritation, he plunged his hands into the pond, letting the cool water run over them. The girl laughed at her playmate. "You said yourself that the tea was cold!" she replied, still giggling. "I breathed some steam on it…"

"I thought you were _sniffing_!" Iroh snapped back, waving his hands back and forth, watching the movement of the turtle ducklings following their mother. "Sniffing?" Ursa replied, "Why would I do that?"

"How should I know? You're a _girl…_"

He regretted it the instant he had said it. Within seconds, Ursa was upon her, pulling at his hair. "Ouch!" Iroh yelped, trying to push her away as she pulled at his ponytail. "Take that back!" Ursa said, continuing to tug. "Ouch!" Iroh said again, "alright, I'm sorry for calling you a girl…stop yanking will you?"

"That's better…" Ursa said with satisfaction, retreating. "You're way too much like a boy anyway," Iroh said, wincing slightly from the aftermath of her attack, "Mother says Fire Nation girls are supposed to be ladylike. You're nothing like a lady." Ursa's expression softened at this. "I'm not going to be a lady I expect," the twelve year-old declared, "at least not in the near future."

"Not for lack of trying though...can you _believe_ mother and father enrolled me in the Royal Firebending Academy for Girls?" she added as an afterthought. "The academy's sure in for it if they're taking you…" Iroh muttered, with complete honesty. The two children laughed, simultaneously envisioning the pranks Ursa could pull.

"Come on, I'll pour you another cup…" he finally added, when they were out of breath, "I'm going to try your steam trick."

Iroh took the tea cup in both hands, and after breathing in and out for a couple of times ventured to slowly exhale from his nose.

It was more like a snort.

And he lost control of the way the air was going, letting it flow halfway down his throat. He coughed, belching a spectacular amount of fire instead of a blow of steam. His consolation was that it _did_ succeed in warming up the tea.

Ursa on the other hand, found this whole display incredibly funny. She was still laughing and comparing Iroh to various sorts of beasts of the Fire Nation, ranging from the dragon (Iroh liked that) to the fire belching slug (Iroh liked that one less) when _he_ came.

"Firebending is forbidden in the gardens."

His face was pale and displayed no emotion. He and Iroh dressed almost identically, apart from the fact that Iroh's parka was a size larger to accommodate his comfortable physique, it would be difficult to separate the two brothers from a distance. Ozai always tied the red band showing his admissions to the firebending academy tightly around his waist, since he had earned it a month ago. Ursa remembered that Iroh was not as proper when he had been admitted – they had used the band as a slingshot to scare the turtle ducks. The Fire Lord had not approved, both children suspected. The Fire Lord frequently did not approve of his firstborn son.

Ozai was not like that. Ozai, pale and serious and disturbingly prim, always going through his firebending forms night and day, when Iroh dropped off midday, saying they were easy as well as boring…Ozai who was staring at them both fixedly, disapproval etched on every feature of his face.

"I wasn't _bending_," the older prince retorted, "it was an accident."

"I'm telling father."

Iroh and Ursa exchanged glances. Iroh rolled his eyes. "Whatever…" he mumbled, "look Ozai, why are you even here? Come to show off your stupid band again?" Ursa saw the younger prince's amber eyes flash and his fists clench in annoyance. Iroh saw neither – he was not the one to pay attention to his brother. In his eyes, Ozai was only interested in getting involved with him when he wanted to pester him, or when they got into a fight. He was a waste of his leisure time; the only thing Iroh wanted was his brother to leave so he could enjoy his tea in peace.

Iroh found his little brother _annoying_, in a childlike fashion. Ozai, on the other hand, seemed to truly, passionately _hate_ his older brother. Iroh did not seem to know that, much to Ursa's surprise. It was as clear as day. Of course, Ursa did not know _why_ Ozai hated Iroh – she and the young prince were not friends more than simply acquaintances. Even if they were, some thoughts, unknown to anyone else, were only for Ozai, not to be shared with anyone.

"Father wants us in the great hall," Ozai said, turning his back and making to leave, "he wishes to quiz us on the twenty forms."

"But I thought the instructions were to practice the first fifteen only!" Iroh said abruptly, forgetting his annoyance. A sharp smile lit Ozai's features as he turned his head to glance back at Iroh.

"Obviously you were mistaken, brother. Let's hope that I can amuse father well enough that he will forget his anger towards you."

"Argh." Iroh said, after his brother was an earshot away. "Intolerable jerk. He must have conveniently left out mentioning that to me. Let's just hope father asks him to go first so I can catch on the moves."

Ursa snorted. "Even you're not that good!" she said with disbelief, though she knew that actually he _was_ that good, and probably even better. Firebending came naturally to Iroh, just as laziness and loving fun did.

"I'll get by," Iroh said, waving her off. "Besides, Ozai's probably perfected them, so I'll get a shot at the faultless stuff before I demonstrate." He watched his brother walk away. "Good thing he's far off and can't here me _praise_ him."

Ozai _could_. He smiled to himself.


	2. Birthright

Two: Birthright

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

Alright! Two chapters simultaneously – because I like to spread the love. I hope everyone enjoys this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

**Two: Birthright.**

**Iroh (17), Ursa (15), Ozai (10)**

_Winter, spring_

_Summer, fall_

_Four seasons_

_Four loves_

Just as he was saying _loves_, Iroh gripped a tad to tight on the liuquin, causing the string to snap with a faint _ping_. "This is impossible!" he roared with exasperation. "I hate this stupid thing."

"Do you have to do this?" Ursa asked, her hands around her knees, watching her friend from up a tree.

"Mother says it builds character or something else," Iroh replied, without looking. "Usually that means it's a requirement for the crown prince that Father came up with, this way or another."

"I can't imagine Fire Lord Azulon playing the liuquin…" Ursa said, "um…perhaps he could play the zhang. Though there's a good chance the chassis would catch fire from the great hall."

"I can't imagine him playing _anything_," Iroh interjected, "why am I the one who keeps getting ridiculous tasks piled upon?"

"You're the crown prince," Ursa pointed out.

"I didn't _ask for it_, did I? I don't care about being the Fire Lord. My life stinks." Iroh said like a petulant child, casting the liuquin aside to look in the pond. He frowned at his reflection – not because he had put on recently – he just didn't see a crown prince inside himself. "Don't let Ozai hear you saying that…" Ursa said with a slight smile, jumping down from her tree.

"Ozai?" Iroh said with a surprised voice, "I didn't know you two were having conversations about this stuff. I didn't even know that you guys were talking with each other." This was not a very strange thing to say. Iroh's younger brother and the only daughter from the northern part of the fire nation's richest family were _acquainted_ alright, but they were not actual friends. Ursa was Iroh's friend. Her opinion of Ozai was that he was a grumpy boy who was obsessed with firebending and pleasing his father. _He _didn't have much of an opinion of her (Ursa knew that) apart from the fact that she was _Iroh's_ friend, just another thing Iroh had and he didn't, just another thing he was being deprived of because of birthright (Ursa didn't know that).

"We weren't having conversations," Ursa said with a scowl. "I don't need to talk with your brother to see that he hates your guts. He practically shoots fireballs at you with his eyes when someone announces _Crown Prince Iroh_."

"I don't care about that stuff," Iroh said with a shrug, "I already told Ozai that, ages ago."

"You mean when you were nine, and he was _two_," Ursa said, raising her eyebrows, "after which he said _he_ would make a better Fire Lord anyway, and tried to beat you with a stick."

The memories made Iroh smile. "We have a portrait of him like that in our house on Ember Island," he said fondly, then added "of Ozai, that is. Not the stick. We used to be cute as babies, you know. Then he grew up to be a psycho and I grew up to play the dumb liuquin."

"Yeah, yeah, Ember Island…" Ursa said, "you keep telling me we're going to go there, but you never keep your word."

"Maybe this summer…"

"Great, I wanna see the Ember Island Players again! Their Roku thing was spectacular…and I'm not saying it because he's family!"

"Father doesn't like the players. He says they're always offending the royal family."

"Your father is too quick to take offence. They're like that about anyone. I bet they'll be like that about you in a hundred years."

"How do you mean?"

"Oh you know…they'll go on and about the last Fire Lord who was a lazy-ass, always slacking off politics and warfare to drink tea and play Pai Sho."

"Great idea! I'll get the set. I want to show you this cool new maneuver I learned from Master Liang!"

"Oh I know what you can play instead of the liuquin!"

"What?"

"The tsungi horn!"

The last comment made Ozai fall of the tree he was watching them.

A/N:

Beating someone with a stick is much more satisfying than firebending them into next tuesday. You should try it sometime.

You've probably seen the tsungi horn (sometimes also called a sungi horn) and the liuquin in the show. Iroh (as well as Zuko, evidently) play that one. The liuquin is another Chinese instrument, and so is the zheng. Look them up in wikipedia if you don't believe me.

And yes, the picture Iroh is talking about is the same one Katara discovered in the summer house on Ember Island – you'll catch my drift if you've watched book 3 chapter 18. ("Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?") The song is the same as the one Iroh sings with the crew in book one.


	3. Pai Sho

**Pai Sho.**

**Harmony**

**by Inktheory**

-

Disclaimer: Me no own Avatar.

Yay! I got a review! --is so happy-- I love reviews. Did you know that every review makes a kitten go to heaven? Honest.

-

**Three: ****Pai Sho.**

_I am moved by fancies that are curled  
Around these images, and cling:  
The notion of some infinitely gentle  
Infinitely suffering thing._

_T.S. Eliot_

_Preludes_

"A copper piece for your thoughts, Prince Iroh?"

Iroh was scowling at the pieces on the circular Pai Sho board, as if he was trying to figure out something. He looked up to meet his firebending master's eyes. "Yes," he finally said, "this game is boring Master Liang. I don't understand why we're playing it."

"You've been attempting to surround my port repetitively Prince Iroh," Liang explained solemnly, "while your first objective should have been to start harmony from your home port."

"Was I?" Iroh asked in an interested voice, heavily hinting his sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed. You know, because I was so _bored?_"

Liang sighed, rising to his feet slowly. As a man of sixty years, he had not lost any of his prowess in firebending, for firebending was not in the muscles but in the chi itself. That didn't mean he wasn't aging, nevertheless. "Ginseng tea, prince?" he asked, filling himself a cup.

"My favorite!" Iroh declared, forgetting his boredom over the game and reaching eagerly for the tea cup. Liang sat down before him with a sigh. "You play like you fire bend, my prince," he finally said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Iroh asked, "that I'm really really good?" He grinned at his master, who rolled his eyes. "No!" master Liang replied snappishly, "it _means_, you have potential, but as always, you are taking it for granted and being impatient with tasks that require dedication and practice."

"But this game is so _dull_," Iroh insisted. "at least firebending will be useful in the future. What's the point of playing Pai Sho? Only snooty old men in pubs play this game."

Liang did not seem fazed to be called an old man. Iroh was a child. In his eyes, everyone seemed to be old and gray, when he had so much energy flaring up inside compared to them. Liang could remember how it was to feel like that. He still got that notion when he did firebending.

"You cannot expect to be a good military strategist if you are not a good Pai Sho player. Pai Sho is even played among soldiers," Liang said patiently. Then he took Iroh's Wheel with a swipe of his own, placing it into the Pot. "And most of all, never underestimate a snooty old man."

"Argh!" Iroh groaned in frustration, "You said the Wheel was such a great tile because it could move in every direction. Now I've lost it."

"Only in yellow spaces," Liang told him, "and moving in many directions or many paces at a time is not what makes a tile great. Your objective here is to achieve harmony. There is no _great tile_ that makes you do that. It is only your own mind that can work out the riddles of Pai Sho."

Iroh glared at him. Liang smiled in his tranquil manner, the one that frequently irritated Iroh. "_Fine,_" he muttered under his breath. "_let's take it easy._" He glanced among his Flower and Non-flower tiles, finally picking up the Lotus.

"I see you favor the White Lotus gambit, my young pupil," his master said enigmatically. "What?" Iroh asked, not looking up from the board. "Not many cling to the ancient ways," Liang added.

"Oh, I'm not using it because it's an old technique," Iroh mumbled off-handly, frowning at his tiles, "I chose that tile because you said it's not the number or directions of the tile that make me win. The White Lotus only moves up to two paces per turn, and it has to start from my own port. So there you are."

Liang looked at Iroh, under raised eyebrows. The young prince was not unaware of this, as he was casting a bewildered glance at his rose and his boat, wondering which one to use. The old master smiled at himself and sipped his tea.

--

"It dragged out so long, I thought it was going to go on forever!" Iroh exclaimed to Ursa as he tilted his crown to one side. The weather was fair, despite the closeness of autumn, and the two children were sitting in their usual spot, the front of the turtle duck pond. Ursa looked as if she had entertained herself as she had waited for Iroh to finish his training. She was propped on her elbows, one of which had mud stains on it, and her new atlas dress had a tear on its skirts. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Iroh said, though he sounded more sorry for himself, having been forced to play Pai Sho for three hours.

"Oh, I got by," Ursa replied cheerfully, "our mothers were doing embroidery. They had me sit next to them." Then she showed the rip on her skirt. "I climbed the tree branch close to the window to escape."

Both children laughed. "You didn't get caught?" Iroh asked. "Well, I think your brother saw me, he was in the gardens, but he didn't say anything," Ursa said in response to this. "Then you _did_ get caught after all," was Iroh's replies. "Ozai is a tattle-tale. He tells everything I do to Father. You just wait and see."

"Then it's a good thing my father isn't Fire Lord," Ursa replied. "worst thing is, I'll get sent off to Crescent Isle instead of coming to visit you here. Don't worry, if that happens I'll steal a messenger hawk and notify you."

Iroh was sure she would. Ursa had broken into the sanctuary once, claiming that she "had to see the statue of Grandpa". The sages had been horrified, thinking it was an assault. They were not so eager to have the little girl on the island anymore. "Uh, so you guys played what?" Ursa asked, cutting into his train of thought. "Pai Sho…" Iroh muttered, remembering his boredom.

"That's great!" Ursa said, causing her friend to look up at him in surprise. "I _love_ Pai Sho." She looked at Iroh's appalled face and giggled, launching into an explanation. "Grandma Ta Min used to teach me before she passed away," she said, "she learned it from grandpa himself, so she was really good at it. She once said that Grandpa Roku beat Fire Lord Sozin in a game. Can you believe that?"

Iroh only knew Sozin from the portraits in the hallways and his father's lecturing. He remembered his grandfather's fierce, frowning face and his father's speeches of how he had been a great ruler and this battle and that victory…it seemed that Sozin was another one of those grumpy, uptight military men. It wasn't so unbelievable that he could be beaten in Pai Sho.

"Come on!" Ursa said, starting to run to the palace. "Get your set out, I want a game with you! If you win, I'll tell you what I heard the governor's daughter _Jiao_ said about you!"

"Jiao?" Iroh remembered, recalling the pretty-faced girl. "She said something about me?" Ursa just giggled, continuing to run. "Tell me!" Iroh commanded, running after her. "You'll have to beat me first!" Ursa called, reaching the door.

"But I'm the Prince! I command you to tell me!"

"Save your commands for _after _getting your ass kicked in Pai Sho!"

"You don't know that's going to happen!"

--

Fire Lady Ilah was tired. It seemed that every meeting or ceremony the Fire Lord had attended this week, she had been required to be beside him. Always having to be polite and wearing a fake smile all day was not easy.

And their sons! The way Azulon treated them frequently mortified Lady Ilah. Was this a royal family trait, she wondered, for her husband often reminded her that he had learned _everything_ from his father, when she dared to criticize his ways. There was a strange disparity in the manner he chose to approach Iroh and Ozai, and an even stranger disparity in the effect this had on the boys' characters.

While he was often over-demanding of Iroh and ostracizing his lack of discipline; Iroh had become even more accustomed to wiggling out of acts that were meant to discipline him. As for meeting his demands, she suspected Iroh had more than sufficient intelligence and ability to deal with the tasks he was piled upon – her only fear was that he might one day get bored. There was no way of backing out of becoming Fire Lord.

Ozai on other hand was the subject of less challenge in his life, though for Ilah, this was strange since he was so much more like his father. When they were small children; Iroh, a fat engaging boy would frequently rally a group of friends among the peasants to play with. Fun was his element. Ozai, on the other hand, had an appearance that looked neither plump nor good-natured. He was sallow, distant, and quick to place himself as above others – like _royalty_ usually was. His mother suspected that the only person Ozai didn't think of as lowlier than himself was his father…whom he was desperate to please, which was a shame, because Fire Lord Azulon was bent on ignoring acknowledgment of his second son while Iroh was there. This caused the boy to become spiteful and even more distant from everyone. His mother did not fear him though. He pitied his little boy.

"Mother?"

Lady Ilah dropped her embroidery and her musings at the sound. Ozai was at the door, the sun glinting on his –smaller- crown. When he was smaller, Ozai would run to his mother's lap if no one was around to see. It seemed to her that it had been ages since he had done that.

"Mother, I was wondering if I could get fifteen copper pieces from my savings," Ozai said, standing in front of her instead of sitting on her mother's lap. Even against her, he seemed distant. "I know you well enough to know you don't squander your money Ozai," his mother replied at this, "but what would you need it for? You already have your pocket money. Am I wrong?"

Ozai shuffled uneasily in his place. Even though he was young, he did not like being told what to do, nor did he like to be questioned about his intents. He was the kind of boy –and would grow up to be the kind of man- that resented familiarity.

"That's true mother," Ozai went on more quietly, "but fifteen copper pieces is the exact amount of money I can add to my pocket money to buy a Pai Sho set."

_So that's the reason,_ Lady Ilah said to herself, _he must have seen Iroh playing with master Liang and that little girl._ Then, _I wonder why he doesn't receive the same training from Liang as his brother. Maybe I could talk to Azulon about this._

"Ah, Pai Sho," Lady Ilah finally said, "a very intricately designed game. I'm not too good at it, I'll have to admit. Maybe you're brother could teach you how to play?"

"I can learn it myself!" Ozai said loudly, a little indignantly, Ilah seemed to think, but his face did not betray any emotion. "Is that a yes? Can I buy a set?"

His mother nodded her approval. "Great!" Ozai yelled in triumph and without saying anything else dashed out of the room.

* * *

A/N:

Don't you love Pai Sho?

Apparently, Azulon treated his kids _just like_ Ozai treats them in the future. Except fort he fact that he obviously favors Azula over Zuko. Well, you know the saying…like father, like son. Poor Ilah though, the boys must have been a handful. And isn't Ozai being an ungrateful snot there? He should have at least thanked his mother.

I made Liang up (obviously). I wanted him to be like Gyatso, but someone needs to kick Iroh's ass once in a while so he stays in line, the slacker. Am I right?

And we'll see more of Crescent Island, since Roku was Ursa's grandfather after all. I'm saving the darker chapters for later, first the more cheerful stuff to attract readers..

I kind of gave up on writing the ages of the characters. It's annoying. And I also checked the Avatar wikia, which says that Iroh is 64 and Ozai is 43. Twenty-one years? That makes no sense at all. Maybe Ilah cheated on Azulon. Maybe Ozai is from the postman, maybe the storks brought him…right.


	4. Unconscious

Unconscious

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. I wish I did.**_

_**Look, it's a future fic! I apologize for interrupting the story line, but I wanted to do some Ozai/Ursa. The Harmony series is a sequence of drabble**__**s after all, so it shouldn't hurt.**_

_**Review, please. All the cool kids are doing it.**_

**Four: Unconscious.**

She always came to him at night, never by the light of the day. Even after she was gone, this did not change. She started to come to him in his dreams instead.

"I promise to forgive you," she would whisper, blurred around the edges, a devastating explosion of light in his face, "I promise. Just tell me you're sorry." She would reach out to him; he would instinctively reach back, cursing himself for how _pathetic_ he was in dreams. Here there was no sun, no warmth of fire to draw strength. No matter how hard he tried.

"I will not!" he would scream at her fiercely. "I am sorry for _nothing!_ It's everyone else that should be sorry. _You_ should be sorry!" He wanted her to be scared of him again, to recoil when he struck, to obey – like she used to. That too, changed when she left. In his dreams, he could not rule her by fear. She would simply smile.

Her smile was beautiful. Radiant. Like lightning, it could not be taken back once unleashed, shattering everything inside of his being. "I come here to see if you've learned from your mistakes, Ozai," she would say softly. Sadly. "But you never do."

"I made no mistakes!" he would yell fiercely. Her intensity made his soul crumble. "Take me back! Take me back or else...!"

"Ozai…there is no other way. There is no _else._"

"Take me back or I swear upon Agni that _I will burn you!_"

He could not. It was _he_ who would burn if he tried. Ozai knew. So did she. It made her sad as much as it angered him. She would cry. Then she would leave him behind to grieve, misery and rage tearing at his chest.

"Take me back!"

"Father…"

The noise inside his head stopped. He crash-landed into reality, waking up in his chambers. Azula was standing in front of him. She was not a day older than ten, and still clutching her pillow in her arms.

"You were thrashing in your sleep father," she said fearfully, respectfully. "Then you set your bed sheets on fire. I put it out." She beamed at him, her smile childish. Ozai grumbled. He was not in the mood to praise his daughter for her prowess in firebending, like she always expected.

"Were you having a nightmare, father?"

"Go to your room, child!" Ozai snarled at her. Her eyes widened. At first, he thought she was going to cry – but like him, Azula did not know how to cry. She bit her lip once, giving her father, her hero a sad glance as if she had been betrayed. Then she fled.

The Fire Lord groaned, looking at his bed. It was empty, and true enough, he had burned a hole clean through the bedsheets. He buried his face in his hands. "You are _weak_…" he whispered to himself, cursing at himself. _"Weak…_"

He wondered if Ursa would come back, tomorrow night.

* * *

**A/N: Don't feel bad. I'm sure he deserved it.**


	5. Spying

Spying

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

**-**

**Disclaimer: Avatar belongs to someone, but it's not me. Too bad.**

**Yay! I have reviews. does the crazy writer dance Keep them coming please! I really appreciate feedback, be it positive or negative. (_is_ there are crazy writer dance? I might invent it if there isn't one yet)  
**

**This one's kind of short. I have a longer one coming up, promise.**

**-**

**Five****: Spying.**

_Who is the third who walks always beside you?  
When I count, there are only you and I together  
but when __I look ahead up the white road  
There is always another one walking beside you  
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded  
I do not know whether a man or a woman  
- but who is that on the other side of you?_

"Prince Iroh!" master Liang scolded Iroh with a carrying voice. "Resume your stance!"

Iroh, who had been staring into the distance, where two fireflies were encircling each other as if in a strange dance, snapped his attention back to the arena, guiltily looking at his master. "But Master Liang, I'm _tired._ And bored." He gave the old man a sheepish grin, hoping to soften him, though –as he knew he would- failing.

"Being tired is not an excuse!" Liang said –bellowed- blasting a jet of fire towards him, which Iroh was narrowly able to evade. "Evading attacks should not be your only resort. You must additionally be able to block them. And you expect me to take you up to the next level! How can you say that, while you are still half defenseless before your attacker?"

Iroh couldn't. He looked down at his hands, watching a drop of sweat slide across his finger and onto the ground. "Now, again, attack me and I will block," master Liang instructed him. With a sigh, Iroh sent the old man a jet of fire, watching him slice the flame in half with one of his own.

"I think this is stupid," Iroh declared, taking his stance and waiting for his master's turn to attack. "it takes up more of our chi. It would be better if I could just take in the fire you produced and send it back to you, instead of having to create fire of my own."

"You will have to live with it," his master said, creating a spectacular display of flames and directing them towards Iroh. "you are a firebender. We are not like earthbenders, who can chuck rocks at each other. Nor are we like waterbenders. Yet we are still the strongest nation among them." _They can do that?_ Iroh thought to himself in awe, skating over the "strongest nation" bit. Suddenly, he did not feel so proud of his inner fire, as he looked ahead of him.

The fireball was so enormous that Iroh had to meet it with both hands, with relatively smaller flames of his own – two broad swipes of fire successively sliced through the inferno, _aha!_ Iroh thought triumphantly, then even more triumphantly lost his balance and did a double take that landed him on the ground.

"That was very good!" Liang declared excitedly, waving his hand to try to clear out the dust. He was pleased that his pupil was finally paying him attention. Of course, he had known that Iroh was going to do it after all –the prince was a natural— but it didn't hurt to discipline the boy a bit. He did praise him when his work was diligent anyways.

Iroh, on the other hand, didn't seem to be around to be praised at that moment. When the dust cleared out Liang saw that his pupil was nowhere to be seen. Liang knew that Iroh was always finding new ways to slack off, but this kind of bravado was rather new to him. The most the crown prince had done up to this day was to fall asleep during training. "Prince?" He glanced around the arena. "Where are you?"

"A moment, master…" came a muffled reply from a distance. Master Liang's ears picked it up as coming from the spectators' seats. Fair enough, Iroh's head poked from behind a stand, looking rather annoyed. To Liang's surprise, another face –sweaty, angry but determined – followed suit.

"He's been spying on us! I saw him just as you were attacking." Iroh announced, holding his brother from the back of his neck. "You sneaky little—"

Ozai didn't say anything, but he tried to kick his brother in the face. "It's not enough that you're snooping on us so now you're attacking me?" Iroh yelled at him. Although there was considerable age difference between them, they were still boys. Ozai replied in a stream of several obscene words Liang had no idea where he could have picked up from –and were certainly not fit for a prince— earning a punch from Iroh.

"Idiot!"

"Fire-flake face! Stop this right now!"

"Make me!"

There was a volley of fire-punches, several Ozai-like noises of resistance while Iroh's louder voice boomed over his brother's. They rolled onto the ground, continuing to wrestle, an occasional jet of flame flying in this direction or the other.

Liang ran to interfere before the squabble turned into an Agni Kai. The arena had had to be reconstructed after the last time the boys had gotten into a fight and had an Agni Kai. It had started when Ozai had pulled Iroh's hair. And they hadn't even been trained in the art of firebending then.

* * *

**A/N: The poem is quoted from T.S. Eliot's excellent _Waste Land_, part _v. what the thunder said. _That's one of my favorite pieces of literature. You may see more quotes from it in due time.**

**If I was any good at producing AtLA fanart, I would have had one titled "Iroh bitch-slaps Ozai" ready right now.**


	6. Crescent Island

Crescent Island

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

**-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or else I would be doing more than just writing ****fan fiction, don't you think?**

**Wow! I've started to get reviews. Thanks folks, keep them coming – it makes me really happy (and a special thanks to OSuzanne, who's already reviewed my fic for 3 times). You are made of win.**

**This is probably ****one of the best chapters I've written for this story up to now. I hope you like it.**

**-**

**Crescent Island**

_-__Abandon all hope, ye who enter here-_

**Now 'gin the rueful wailings to be heard.  
Now am I come where many a plaining voice  
Smites on mine ear. Into a place I came  
Where light was silent all**

"We're here!" Iroh yelled. He had been jumping up and down on the deck for fifteen minutes, when the captain had told them they would be dropping anchor soon. "_Oh, joy,_" Ozai commented without enthusiasm.

"Aren't you excited?" Iroh asked, turning to his brother. "Oh, I'm really excited," Ozai replied cynically, "forgive me for not leaping with delight. Some of us have the dignity that people expect from the royal family."

"You're such a killjoy, brother," Iroh told his brother disapprovingly. "I know you're not friends with Ursa and Shyu. I thought that maybe you'd at least be excited at the idea of seeing the statue of Roku."

"The Avatar?" Ozai asked, still without interest, but with a less droll tone of voice than previous. "Why should I be interested in some dumb statue?"

"Because he used to be the _Avatar_," Iroh declared importantly, clearly in awe of all the stories he'd read about the legends. It was actually one of the few things Iroh was interested enough to go to the imperial library and read. Since he had started advanced firebending techniques, Iroh's tendency to compare the four bending techniques had become increasingly frequent, which in turn had lead to his interest in the master of all four elements.

"You mean the former Avatar," Ozai said, apathetically, cutting into his thoughts.

"Well…yeah…" Iroh admitted rather sheepishly. "But still—"

"Why should we care about an old Avatar?" Ozai asked, cutting in sharply. "I'm going to find the new one and kill him," he declared.

Iroh laughed. His brother's hands balled into fists, but Iroh didn't see, as he had hidden them in his pockets. "That's impossible!" he told Ozai, "the Avatar vanished, remember? Father couldn't find him. I doubt that anyone can, if he couldn't." There was a certain sadness in his voice as he recalled his history lessons with Firelord Azulon, how his grandfather had wiped out all the nomads.

Before Ozai could reply to this, there was a shrill blow of a whistle. "We're _here_!" Iroh yelled once more, louder than before. He sprinted up the length of the deck, running towards the island before anyone could say anything about it. He did not notice the derisive look his brother gave him.

**Bellowing there groan'd  
A noise as of a sea in tempest torn  
By warring winds. The stormy blast of hell  
**

"At the winter solstice, the sun hits Roku's face, making his eyes glow…" Shyu explained, as the three youngsters sat in front of the large ornate door of the Sanctuary. "Whoa…" Iroh said, as if he had never heard of anything so incredible. "Yeah," Shyu said happily, enjoying his moment of being regarded as cool. "I saw it once, grandpa showed me. You were there with us Ursa, remember?"

She nodded. All three children were dressed in scarlet, Iroh and Ursa more richly clothed, Shyu wearing the simple clothes of the fire sages. Although he was not qualified to be one yet, his family let him into the temple since they had finally agreed he knew enough about it not to get lost.

"Can we go inside? Iroh asked suddenly, pushing in vain at the large ornate door. "Um, not if you're not master of all four elements," Shyu told him, pointing at the carvings on the door. Iroh took notice of them.

_Fire. _"An Avatar-only door," Iroh remarked in wonder. "I wish _I _was the Avatar." _Air. _Both children looked at him in horror. "What?" Iroh asked, raising his eyebrows. _Water. _Ursa looked around fearfully before saying, "Iroh, don't say that sort of stuff out loud." _Earth._

"Why not?" he asked, surprised. _The four carvings were beautifully aligned._

"It's sort of…treason," Shyu admitted.

"But…" Iroh stuttered, at loss for words, "we're in the Avatar's temple! I don't get it!"

"Remember when Roku died your grandfather Sozin overpowered this temple, Iroh?" Ursa said gently. "The fire sages had to change allegiance after that. The Avatar is the enemy."

"Some enemy _he_ is, no one's heard of him for ages…" Iroh said as if his toy had been taken from him. "and I still want to see inside. It's not like I can gather benders from the other nations and make them open the door. Not fair." He sulked, looking like a petulant child.

"Actually, there _is_ another way of getting in," Shyu said tentatively. "What?" Iroh looked up instantly, excitement back in his eyes. "Um…we would need five simultaneous fire blasts through those holes. There's only three of us…so…"

"I'm game!" A thinner voice resounded from behind them. The three children jumped in surprise. It was Ozai, peaking from behind the columns. "You're spying!" Iroh roared, getting up. "Again!" He made to jump his brother but his two friends grabbed him from both sides.

"One of us could create _two_ blasts," Ozai went on, coming up to sit beside them, much to Iroh's dismay. "I think _you_ should do that," he said, addressing Shyu, "since you know better how synchronized the fire blasts must be. We'll follow suit."

"What if we get caught?" Ursa asked, still apprehensive after Iroh's outburst about the Avatar. "We won't," Ozai said, grinning widely. "I told your parents we were going to the beach. And the sages are in the underground halls, busy with some sort of dumb ritual." This time all four children grinned, even Iroh. This caused a striking resemblance between the two brothers, though only noticeable by the keen eye.

"Let's do this!" Iroh said, leaping up.

**With restless fury drives the spirits on  
Whirl'd round and dash'd amain with sore annoy.**

"Whoa…" Iroh exhaled, for the umpteenth time that day. His eyes traveled around the carvings etched on the walls, recalling the legends he had read. He was particularly awed by one involving a dragon, which was told to be Roku's animal guide. _I wonder if there are still dragons in the Fire Nation._ Iroh was not sure there were any left. He knew of his father's project involving the capture and slaying of dragons. At first it was told to be for the safety of their nation. Yet Master Liang had told Iroh that dragons were the original firebenders – this made it even more difficult for Iroh to understand the purpose of the slaughter. When he said so, Liang casually asked him not to mention what he had said to his father.

Ursa and Shyu were also walking around, Shyu talking rapidly about several stories he had picked up from living in the temple. Iroh, having already read about them mostly, was walking around by himself.

Ozai was standing in front of the Avatar's statue. He hadn't budged since they had entered the Sanctuary. He had been standing still, looking fixedly at the statue three times as big as him, towering magnificently in front of him. Overcome by an impromptu brotherly feeling, Iroh walked over and clapped a hand over his brother's shoulder. Ozai stiffened at this. Iroh chose to ignore it.

"Look, that's Monk Gyatso," he said pointing at a carving right beside the statue. It showed two young men standing next to each other, one holding a flame in his hands, the other a ball of what looked like air. The second had an arrow imprinted on his head. "I think he was an air nomad," Iroh went on. "although I'm not sure, since they're..well, extinct. Gyatso was also a Pai Sho player. He has his own move, called Ocean Spiral or something…"

Ozai didn't say anything. "Aren't you listening?" Iroh finally retorted, losing his temper and elbowing his brother. "I'm trying to strike up a conversation here."

"I'm not interested in weaklings…" Ozai finally said with a sneer. "Grandfather did a great job of wiping out every single one of those flying savages, if you ask me." His voice was icy, and Iroh noticed, a great deal like his Father. He did not look at Iroh as he spoke. Suddenly, Iroh was angry…angry at himself for trying to get over the antagonism between them, angry at Ozai for his brutality.

"You shouldn't be so cruel," he finally said, trying to compose his fury, "I'm not criticizing the ways Firelord Sozin ruled, but you should at least respect the dead, brother."

"Respect?" Ozai asked, a faint smile playing at his lips. "They didn't deserve to live. They were weak. Just like you. You're not fit to rule the Fire Nation." His words were venomous, but his speech was light, matched by a wide smirk.

Iroh was done with testing his patience. With a roar, he threw himself onto his brother.

**Easy is the descent into hell.**

* * *

**A/N:****Shyu is the same fire sage who helped the Gaang in the temple – but if you're a hardcore fan, you probably already know that.****The pai sho move ocean spiral -- well, I made that one up. In Tibetan, "Gyatso" means "ocean", so there you are.  
And you probably already know that Avatar Roku was Ursa's grandfather. **

**The quotes:**

**-Abandon all hope, ye who enter here: Dante's Divine Comedy, Inferno, second canto.**

**-The poem dispersed throughout the chapter is from the fifth canto of Inferno. Read it if you haven't. It's brilliant.**

**-Easy is the descent into hell: or "Facilis descensus ****avernus" if you took Latin in high school. From Virgil's Aenid.**

**Enough education…tea break!**


	7. Death by Water

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

**-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, do you?**

**Yay! I have reviews. Thanks everyone – they make me feel all warm and cuddly. Keep them coming!**

**-**

**Death by water.**

_And all the woe that moved him so  
that he gave that bitter cry,  
And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats,  
none knew so well as I:  
For he who lives more lives than one  
more __deaths__ that one must die."_

"What are you looking at?"

His eyes were transfixed on the ocean, the deadly waves splashing against the mast, spraying them with water. He recoiled whenever he was touched by it. Ozai hated the water. He cocked an eyebrow at the blatancy of her question.

"Oh, you like the sea," she said sheepishly. "I thought you would."

"I don't," Ozai replied quietly, "I hate it." She cast him an affronted glance that said _clearly you are just being contrary to amuse yourself._ "See, I thought you would, because Iroh always says you practice firebending at night…" she said instead.

He had not really had a conversation before. Naturally, they were acquainted – but very formally so. They would occasionally come across one another, a greeting here, a curt bow of the head to acknowledge presence there…but not more. _Iroh's friend_, she made him think, _Iroh's._ He was not surprised at how she had launched into a sentence beginning with _Iroh says._

"Where is my brother?" Ozai asked brusquely, trying to sound brief enough to make her see he did not want to chat, but not sound rude at the same time. "Oh, he went into make some tea," Ursa replied, her face falling slightly. Her upset voice indicated that she _had_ thought he was being rude. "I thought I could keep you company until he came…" she went on. "I mean, not that I don't think you shouldn't join us." To his surprise, he noticed she was blushing. Did girls always blush when they spoke to strangers? "We're having vanilla chai. Iroh wouldn't mind."

Alright, she wasn't so sure about that one. "I think he would," Ozai said with a slight smile. "in fact, there he comes. Enjoy your tea."

"But—" she said with a faltering voice. "Are you going to just stand here?"

"I'm admiring the scenery."

"You just said you hated the ocean!"

"_Enjoy your tea._"

The firmness in his voice made Ursa bite her lip and turn on her heel to leave. Ozai allowed himself a vindictive gaze. Most of it was for Iroh, but _she_ got her fair share of it too. Not that she noticed, since her back was turned. Iroh did not notice either – but then again, he never did. He still thought Ozai was simply an irritating child.

Ozai was special. His mother kept telling him that as a boy. He was special, she said, because he died twice and came back. The fact was, Ozai still had a death in store for him, but his mother didn't know that, and neither did he. If someone told him of the ultimate punishment that awaited him, it was fairly certain that he would laugh.

--

Ozai was born in winter.

It must be why his father scorns him as a son, because Fire Nation babies are not supposed to be born in winter. Especially not boys, who are warriors. If a baby is born at night, it must be because it is not strong enough to stand the sun. Old fire nation legends do not find these children worthy of being kept alive – luckily for the laws passed by Agni knows which of his ancestors proposed, the act is now prohibited. It does not, however exempt him from a father's scorn.

Ozai hates this. He hates nature for not accepting him as one of itself. He is Fire Nation. He rises with the sun. The moon is not his calling. He is vindictive towards the moon, and sometimes casts it scathing glances whenever he firebends at night – which is almost always. He suspects that he is driven to firebending at night because of this resentment.

Iroh was born in july. In midday. He was an animated baby, his mother tells him, that made the midwifes and the nurses laugh alike. His mother does not say this to offend Ozai – in her eyes, both of her boys deserve equal love – but his younger son is scornful of this still. He did not make anyone laugh when he was born. Everyone was crying when Ozai was born.

The night Ozai was born, he was silent. His mother says it was because he could not get the water out of his lungs and start breathing. Water is the enemy of a firebender. They had to stick tubes down Ozai's throat and force air inside his lungs to make him cough the water out. Everyone was convinced that he was not going to make it until the baby turned pink from sickly purple.

--

The second time Ozai died, he was five years-old. They had been coming home from Ember Island on a steamship, after seeing _Love in the time of Dragons._ His and Ursa's parents had retired to the cabin. Iroh and Ursa were on the deck, conversing animatedly about something he could not hear.

Ozai was reliving the play inside his head.

"_Did you know that stars are made of fire?" the man said. _ Ozai was looking at the his brother and the girl. The ocean lay below his feet. "_Really?" the girl asked with wonder._ Nighttime made the moon and the stars splay across the surface of water. "_Really…" he replied._ The lights were twinkling, beckoning at him. _The man was confident. Suave, even. He leaned forward to kiss her._ Ozai closed his eyes and let his imagination reign.

"Father!"

"Father, mother! Come quickly! Ozai fell into the sea!"

--

"This is pretty good…" Ursa commented, sipping at the tea. "Isn't it?" Iroh agreed excitedly, "One of Jiao's aunts owns a tea shop down in the villages back home. That's where I first tasted this." Ursa gave Iroh a meaningful look that said _so that's where you've been disappearing to every afternoon._ Iroh blushed slightly, grinning at his best friend. Ursa assured him that everything was going well – if Jiao liked tea as much as Iroh did, nothing could go wrong between them.

She cast a furtive glance at the deck, where the other fire prince was still gazing at the ocean as if transfixed. _I wonder if he likes tea…_she thought to herself.

**A/N:**

**-Vanilla chai was requested in a review. So there you go **_**satinsilversnowflake**_**. Enjoy!****-Chapter title is from T.S. Eliot's Waste Land.  
-The poem in the beginning is from Oscar Wilde's **_**Ballad of Reading Gaol**_** – a very sad but remarkable piece of fine fine literature.**  
**-Love in the time of Dragons: Zuko mentions this play in "The Ember Island Players".**

**(warning: borning med student ramble about to start. ****Read with caution)**

**-About Ozai's first "death": I wanted to give him **_**infant respiratory distress syndrome**_** here. Babies with RDS have immature lungs. Current therapy targets prevention instead of treatment, but they probably didn't have steroids in the fire nation (development of lungs can be induced before the baby is born by giving corticosteroids to mothers) so I thought continuous positive airway pressure, which **_**does**_** involve sticking a tube and giving oxygen would be a neat idea. 'Nuff said. If you're interested, there's a bunch of stuff on RDS on wikipedia that's easy to understand.**


	8. Marriage Issues

Marriage issues

**Harmony**

**By Inktheory**

**Oh look…a chapter. Sorry it took so long – med school is kind of crazy. In a time consuming way. So instead of an angsty one, I wanted to do a fun chapter this time. Enjoy!**

**Reviews make a happy camper.**

**--**

**Marriage issues.**

"This love scroll says that you're s'posed to give your eternal love a panda lily, that's how they'll know of the magnitude of your love for them."

Iroh and Ursa were sitting in his room, watching it snow outside. Down in the village, the snow was always mixed with soot, blackening the whole town within a matter of hours. Not here, though. In the imperial palace, the chimneys were filtered and the smoke re-canalized, so that the outside was a portrait of perfection, a heaven of whites and reds.

"Stupid scroll," Iroh said, "how am I supposed to find a panda lily with weather like this?"

"They grow near the volcanoes," Ursa said, from the window sill she was sitting on. "I read somewhere that it's because the earth near volcanoes is the best kind of earth. That's why they're so rare, panda lilies."

"I didn't know that," Iroh admitted. Then he smiled. "I know!" he said, "then you can bring me some lilies from Crescent Isle!"

"Agni, that's a great idea Iroh," Ursa said sarcastically, "because I'd go _all the way_ to Crescent Isle just to get a bunch of stupid flowers for you."

Seeing Iroh's eager face fall, her expression softened and she jumped off from the sill of the window. "I'm sure we can find some other way, you're a prince after all," she said gently, sitting down beside him. "Really? Dunno…" Iroh mumbled, without looking at her.

"Besides, Jiao's dad was appointed somewhere far off in the colonies. They won't be back to the homeland before spring anyway."

"What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"She _will_, dummy. Didn't she promise to come and see you?"

"Well…yeah."

"Then stop worrying like a girl."

She had apparently scooped up some snow from outside, because she was holding a ball of it in her palm. Ursa blew on it softly, lighting it up. "Look, snow cakes!" she declared, the melting mass in front of her making her laugh.

"Do you worry about these things?" Iroh asked, not paying attention. "Like what?" she replied, the burning snow still in her hands. "You know. Boys. Marriage. Stuff…"

Ursa extinguished the flame with a sigh. "Nah," she said, "maybe I should though. You're so lucky. You go and meet someone of upper class that your parents will let you marry. I think every rich boy around me is just so _snooty_. I can't even be friends with them, I don't think that's going to change when I grow up."

"Well _I'm_ not snooty," Iroh retorted, a little offended. "That's because you're a tea-loving lazy-ass," Ursa snapped back. "and you keep saying you're going to marry Jiao and blather about panda lilies every day."

"Then don't get married at all," Iroh offered. "I won't too, if you don't want me to." Then he added "although I really really want to marry Jiao…" seeing her sardonic expression.

"That's what I'd like," Ursa replied gloomily. "But Mother says it's not respectable for an upper class girl to remain single after a certain time…"

"I'm not sad," Ursa went on. "I just hope you won't go away forever when you have your own family."

"I won't!" Iroh replied, sounding horrified at the prospect of leaving his familiarity, his family, his teapots, Ursa, master Liang…everything that came with it. "I'll stay here when I'm married. I'm going to be Fire Lord, remember?"

"Yeah, your crown keeps reminding me," Ursa said with a grin. She gave the little golden crown a tug with her hand and it slid sideways. Iroh's topknot untangled itself and gave the crown a crooked angle. This usually annoyed Iroh to no end, but right now, he seemed preoccupied with something else.

"Hey! I know who you can marry!" he announced suddenly, standing up as if he had come up with something spectacular. "Who?" Ursa asked, genuinely interested. She was half-heartedly hoping he would say "Me!", though it would take a lot to make her admit it, even to herself.

"Ozai!" Iroh declared triumphantly, making her jaw drop. "Your _brother_?" Ursa asked with unflattering disbelief. "You don't even like him!" she protested, "and he's even snootier than all the other boys I know. _And_ he's like five years younger than I am."

"Who cares how snooty Ozai is?" Iroh said, laughing. "He lives here! We'd always be together."

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Ursa screamed, stomping her foot. "Wha-" Iroh started, clearly affronted and scared at her outburst. "I hate you!" With that, she threw the rest of the snow that hadn't melted yet to his face and stormed out of Iroh's room.

--

"Girls are crazy!" Iroh grumbled to himself, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. Snow fell all around him. From a distance, he saw his brother. He was firebending. _Of course_, Iroh thought resentfully, _he's always practicing to pass me._

There was a pool of water encircling Ozai, where the snow had melted around him forming a circle. He looked up briefly, seeing his brother pass before him. "What're you looking at?" Iroh yelled at him. Though he was surprised, Ozai didn't say anything. "Creep…" Iroh muttered under his breath, stalking away.

--

"What is _wrong_ with him?!"

Ursa paced back and forth in the gardens. "Boys are idiots…" she muttered more silently. It was still snowing. She thought she should go inside when she saw _him._ Practicing firebending, of all the things. _In this weather!_ And Iroh had suggested that she _marry_ him. _Of all the stupid things he's come up with!_

"Oh for Agni's sake!" she yelled at Ozai. "don't you have anything better to do?"

She walked away, leaving a very bewildered but clearly amused Ozai behind in the garden.

--

The night found them sitting in front of the pond. It was frozen, and the ducks had retreated to the alcove when the last wings of autumn had fallen. She was wrapped in furs, which was normal. Iroh knew that Ursa had always hated the cold. He didn't. he suspected he was much too chubby to be affected by foul weather.

"Hey…" he muttered, sitting down beside her. She muttered something he couldn't understand (he suspected it was a curse) and cupped both hands in front of her to produce a tiny flame to warm herself up.

"Look, I'm sorry for telling you to marry Ozai…" Iroh tried again. She snorted derisively. "You should be," she finally said. "He's psycho," Iroh added.

Ursa giggled. "You shouldn't speak like that about your brother," she finally said. The conversation moved to a smoother ground after that, as they continued to verbally abuse Ozai for ten minutes.

"You two would have to kiss," Iroh said, laughing. She laughed too. Her face crinkled up in disgust at the idea of kissing. "And make babies," she added for dramatic effect. "Ewww…" they both said simultaneously, screwing their faces up at the imagery. They continued to guffaw at each other's jokes, in their little universe where romance was gross. They were friends again.

All was well.

**A/N: Panda Lilies **_**do **_**grow close to volcanoes, remember from the episode with Aunt Wu in it.**


End file.
